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Aug 26

ESPN ‘College GameDay’ Wants You To Get Up Early On Saturday

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ESPN is launching a new campaign celebrating College GameDay’s four hour debut this Saturday at Clemson University. The first short spot, “Get Up For 9 A.M,” which for some reason features music from The Lion King, clearly is targeted at older fans, since college students don’t wake at 9 A.M. for anything, especially on a Saturday (when they are hungover or otherwise recovering from Friday night).

The second spot, “Anthem,” which you can check out after the jump, features highlights of the kind of mishigas you can find on the show. This includes, but is not limited to, commenters holding a variety of guest animals and Brian Wilson playing the trumpet. They pack as much craziness as they can into 31 seconds, in the hopes that they’ll convince you to roll out of bed and tune in on Saturday morning. An extended version of “Anthem” will also run on social media.

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Aug 26

Anomaly Turns The MINI Into A Roller Coaster Ride…Kind Of

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Anomaly has launched a new MINI Roller Coaster spot as part of their NOT NORMAL campaign for the automaker’s Canadian division.

The ad features people riding atop a customized version of the BMW-owned brand, strapped in to a roller coaster car attached to the MINI’s roof, screaming, holding cotton candy, and generally acting as if they’re on a looping coaster and not a British vehicle obeying the speed limit. Onlookers, meanwhile, wonder what the hell is wrong with these people. The genesis for this idea, ostensibly, is to show that the MINI is “not normal,” and the people treating a ride on the MINI as if they were at Six Flags certainly could be described as such (although they may have crossed over into “crazy”). I realize there are safety concerns involved, but I have to wonder if maybe they could have done a little more to make the ride on the MINI seem exciting (you know, like a roller coaster) and less like some kind of experimental therapy. But maybe that’s just me.

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your car’s roof into a roller coaster car, you should definitely check out the “making of” video after the jump (along with credits). We’re pretty sure you’ll get pulled over for that one, though.

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Aug 26

Op-Ed: Dear Chevy, Find New Ideas

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We’re glad to welcome yet another monthly contributor to the fold in the form of Chuck Hipsher, currently a Houston-based freelance creative director who’s worked at the likes of Campbell Ewald, TBWA and what was FCB back in the day. If you wanted a story from the trenches, here you go. We should note that these opinions don’t necessarily reflect those of AgencySpy’s, but feel free to love or hate in the comments thread. By the way, you can read Chuck’s blog here.

I was fortunate enough to have worked on the Chevy Silverado brand from 2005 –2008 at then-Campbell Ewald in Warren, Michigan. I was the Creative Director who led the charge on the “Our Country. Our Truck” campaign.

John Mellencamp’s song, “Our Country” played a decisive role in that campaign’s birth because, frankly, then-CCO Bill Ludwig slid the studio demo cd across the table to me one day during creative development and said, “See what you can do with this, Chuck.”

Coming from the guy who was instrumental in the famous “Like A Rock” and “Heartbeat Of America” campaigns for Chevy, I was nothing – if not obligated, to listen and try.

Early on, we had terrific research and planning information at our disposal on what the Silverado brand meant to the people who cared. It was work extensively mined by one Ted Klauber (the greatest planner in America, btw) and his team months in advance of the creative start.

Ted and team had travelled to a half dozen or so locales throughout the country and interviewed countless truck owners of all brands, not just Chevy. They came back to Detroit and crunched their info and finally decided this: “Chevy truck drivers are everyday heroes. And the Chevy Silverado is their Big Metal Dog.”

That insight immediately sparked the minds of myself and the creatives working with me. We had an early war room with ideas on the wall that rivaled anything I’ve ever seen produced by ANY agency on ANY automotive brand. EVER.

But then there was that Mellencamp thing.

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Aug 26

Here’s Heat’s New Brotastic ‘Born to Madden’ Spot

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Although you have to wonder how necessary advertising the next Madden game really is, considering how football/gaming bros pretty much spend all summer salivating in anticipation of the pigskin franchise’s next release, Heat has put together a pretty brolarious spot for EA Sports’ 25th anniversary of the franchise.

In the second spot of the “Born to Madden” campaign (following the Arian Foster/Marshawn Lynch opus), directed by Wayne McClammy, it is revealed that the real inspiration for the NFL careers of Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson was a summer camp pact made in their youth to one day beat each other in Madden, as each other. The spot highlights some of the hardcore training Kaepernick and Wilson underwent, all so they could make the NFL, rise to star status, and play Madden NFL 25 against each other. So far Kaepernick and Wilson’s Madden sessions have led to only minor injuries, including a mild concussion suffered by Wilson from a stray thrown controller.

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Aug 23

Team Detroit Makes a Longboarding Vid for Ford, with Devinsupertramp

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Don’t click on this spot unless you want to fall into a Friday K-hole of Devinsupertramp’s extreme sport videos. I have already spent many minutes grimacing at the human bungee slingshot and cringing at “World’s Most Insane Rope Swing Ever!!!” Terrifying.

His collaboration with Ford is no less nail-biting. A Ford Focus ST drives down a winding Utah road while longboarders from Devin’s crew hurtle ahead. They’re graceful and insane, because if they’re going as fast as it seems, they’d rip their skin to nothing and then get promptly run over by a Ford Focus if they fell.

Fears aside, this is a lovely end-of-summer spot, soundtracked by skater song “Carry On,” by Scott & Brendo. It’s the first of Ford and Team Detroit’s #OneTankAdventure campaign, with three more Devin-directed adventures to come.

And okay, it’s Friday. Go ahead, spend some time with tricycle drifters, too.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Aug 22

Taco Bell Recruits YouTubers to Promote New ‘Fiery’ Flavor

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For the pre-launch and launch phases of the new Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos (DLT), DigitasLBi created an ambitious digital and social campaign involving young YouTube influencers. Taco Bell gave chosen creators early access to the new flavor and, 13 days later, incorporated the resulting videos in the official flavor launch. Of those video creators, the top 20 were chosen to compete in a second challenge: in 24 hours, they had to complete the entire filmmaking process, culminating in a promo centered on “taking a bite of the new DLT.”

It’s an interesting idea: harness the audiences of independent YouTube stars, gaining social media cred and creative content in the process. In practice, it’s less impressive. Watching the creator content, I had flashbacks to high school health class, when we had to make video PSAs about safe sex. Every Taco Bell “spot” has the same contrived, amateurish feel.The Alexa Losey Flip Book was cute, and “Selena Stalker” was fun mostly due to the actor’s hoodie and his little eating sounds. Otherwise, color me bored. Even reading this campaign’s press release left me overwhelmed and uninterested – if Digitas wants to build excitement around a fiery flavor, they should at least tell Taco Bell’s audience where to look. They could have hired three ambitious YouTubers, given them a bigger budget, and created actual worthwhile entertainment instead of clogging the space with cobbled-together content.

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Aug 21

Code and Theory, Kenny Mayne, Snapple Work to Preserve the High Five

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The latest episode in Snapple’s Re-enFACTments series features ESPN old-schooler and sports history buff Kenny Mayne, addressing Snapple Real Fact #376: “The ‘high five’ was introduced by a professional baseball player in 1977.” Since then, Mayne believes high fives have gotten shakier, and he sets out to teach some lucky souls proper high-five etiquette.

If you need confirmation that high-fives are a modern-day challenge, you need only spend a minute on Buzzfeed with the sport of basketball, where many high-fives have been lost on the court.

We all know to watch the elbow to ensure a solid hand collision, but according to Mayne, a good high-five should also be “uncalled for.” Personally I disagree, since I appreciate any cue that helps me avoid high-five humiliation, and yelling “HIGH FIIIIVE!” can only add to an enthusiastic situation. But presumably, to be a member of Mayne’s National High-Five Preservation Society, you have to abide by his rules.

This spot is definitely weak in comparison to the Snapple re-enFACTment we covered, in which we learned all about the very real sport of ostrich racing. Snapple has set an impressive precedent for itself.

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Aug 21

Nike Taps LeBron, Piqué, Bradley Cooper’s Voice for ‘Just Do It’ 25th Anniversary

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At this point, Nike and AOR W+K are just showing off. Their latest spot, “Possibilities,” is a fat, splashy kick-off to the 25th anniversary of its ubiquitous slogan, “Just Do It.” These type of Nike ads have always had a mythical quality, compared to other sports brands – like certain BBDO Foot Locker commercials – that are solid and funny. Nike is serious. W+K Portland is serious. Nike, Inc. is set to earn $25 billion in revenue this year, meaning we must be serious, too, when it comes to our purchases.

Being serious does not preclude Nike from a certain playfulness if you look hard enough. For “Possibilities,” the lightness comes from some Bradley Cooper voiceover that makes the viewer want to just do it, even though said viewer knows he/she can’t do it as well as professional athletes. That’s where stars like footballer Gerard Piqué and basketballer LeBron James come in, cameos that are almost taking the money out of your wallet before you know it.

For LeBron, the unofficial king of the summer, Nike has been creatively pumping out his spots for a few years now. This one may be a joint venture, but he subtly dominates the end with some clever winking done in the form of a fake dunk content. LeBron has never entered the NBA dunk contest. Maybe this is a hint for 2014? Or maybe it’s just smart marketing? Plenty of possibilities to choose from.

Credits after the jump.

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Aug 20

Arian Foster, Marshawn Lynch Get Generational for ‘Madden 25?

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Madden is turning 25 this year. That means decades of video game football obsessions have now been around long enough to be passed from parents to children and then some. To kick off the game’s promotional campaign, EA Sports debuted “Running Back Sons” yesterday, a minute-long spot about the origins of star running backs Arian Foster and Marshawn Lynch. While you might expect their motivation to come from supportive families, inspirational coaches, and the love of the game, it turns out that their success can be traced back to a friendly battle of brinksmanship between their fictitious fathers, Darian Foster and Marshawn Lynch Sr.

Fathers Foster and Lynch (played by the actual Foster and Lynch, respectively) spend all of their time playing Madden in unusual places as their sons train for football. At one point, young Marshawn even spins around a bear, establishing the beginning of “Beast Mode.” Finally, now that Arian and Marshawn are millionaires, their fathers can play Madden in the pool, which sounds about as dangerous as training with a bear.

This spot is sure to get plenty of airtime in the next few months, especially considering Foster and Lynch have decent acting chops when it comes to commercials. As Marshawn Sr. says, that’s that beast mode right there (raspy old-man laugh) Credits after the jump.

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Aug 20

W+K NY, SoCo Do Barbershop Karate

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It takes a comfortable man to perform karate in a barber’s robe and tinfoil, not to mention skintight jeans and snakeskin boots. Meet the face of Southern Comfort, a moustachioed man we’ve met once before in “Shampoo,” one of the previous spots in W+K’s SoCo “Whatever’s Comfortable” campaign.

Then, he was meditating amidst soft suds, opening his eyes only to check out the woman across the barbershop. Now, he’s showing off for all the ladies.

Director Tim Godsall and the W+K creative team wrote the spot after seeing our protagonist’s casting tape for “Shampoo,” in which he did karate – he’s actually skilled in the martial art, and owns a few dojos. Given the nature of the campaign, they wanted to play to his natural skills. It was a good choice, because this is the best spot yet. While “Beach” and “Shampoo” play to the relaxed side of comfort, “Karate” has more personality and ease. Especially when backed by “I’m a Fool to Care,” by Les Paul and Mary Ford, this barbershop guy paints a poignant picture, and will probably ascend to be your new role model.

Credits after the jump.

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Aug 20

Nike, Foot Locker, W+K Introduce Kevin ‘Kevin’ Durant

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Hot Sauce. Skip to My Lou. Main Event. Kevin. The park league nickname has always been a valued tradition in the realm of streetball, meaningful monikers passed down from the basketball gods that can become legend, a la Dr. J or Pee Wee Kirkland. Kevin Durant, for all of his NBA greatness, has yet to merge his skills with an equally skillful nickname. Yes, there’s KD and the Durantula (and perhaps the best one via Jalen Rose, who resurrected the name Iceberg Slim), but it just doesn’t feel right yet.

For the latest Nike effort from W+K Portland, which was created in partnership with Foot Locker, the agency decided to take Durant’s lack of nicknameness and build an ad around it. The sixty-second spot, which features comedian Hannibal Buress as MC, is the coming-out party for Kevin “Kevin” Durant. Buress runs through pre-game introductions and calls out intricate nicknames for random guys like Don Juan Have a Picnic by the Pond, but when he gets to Durant, the crowd goes silent. Kevin Kevin: It’s funny because it’s true. Credits after the jump.

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Aug 19

ESPN Calls on Kennys, J.J Watt for ‘Monday Night Football’ Spot

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The end of August means football season, and football season means ads for football audiences, which eventually leads to Super Bowl commercials. But before we go down the rabbit hole of beer spots, Subway ads, and…twins, we have an ESPN commercial promoting the actual games.

W+K New York handled the creative legwork for “It All Comes Down to Monday Night,” which shows Houston Texans defensive end/athletic monster picking up a fumble and thinking about how everyone is watching him on television. For comic relief, he starts to run down a checklist of some people named Kenny who could be watching: Ken Norton Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Kenny Loggins (who makes a quality cameo). According to ESPN, there will be two more similar spots on the way as the regular season draws closer, so start thinking of celebrities with the same first name who might like to watch football.

Unfortunately, as much as ESPN would like you to believe that it all comes down to Monday night, the truth is that MNF has taken some hits in the ratings over the past few years. These goofy thirty-second spots always play with the same stringy background music, and even if a few of the quips make you smile, they always feel a little dated. Maybe the program could use a tune-up before “It All Comes Down to Monday Night” turns into “Ratings Come Down on Monday Night.”

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Aug 19

StubHub’s Ticket Oak Returns to Give ‘Couples Counseling’

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StubHub’s Ticket Oak is back from hiatus with some advice for a bored couple, which for this particular plant means a concert ticket giveaway. “Not everyone has a Ticket Oak, but everyone has StubHub,” the ad from SF-based Duncan/Channon ends. In past, Ticket Oak has presented sports game tickets and orchestra-center tickets for a sold-out show. He’s a generous character, made even more loveable through his social media presence. He carried on a multiple-tweet conversation about kittens with @zachford2 and made lady oak jokes on Facebook.

Ticket Oak also showed up naked in ESPN’s Body Issue, on the side of StubHub food trucks, and will be appearing in pop-up shops for fans to take selfies with the big guy. It’s a sweet campaign for a ticket company, endearing users instead of estranging them. With help from their foliaged friend, StubHub will keep on growing.

Credits after the jump

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Aug 15

James Harden Can Act for Foot Locker, But He Definitely Can’t Sing

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Not only should you fear James Harden‘s beard, but now you should fear his voice, too. There’s a long history of athletes who want to be rappers/singers, and that history stars and ends with this awesomely terrible Deion Sanders single from 1994. Luckily, Harden’s leap into the music industry is all in good fun on behalf of Foot Locker. BBDO New York has been pumping out quality NBA-related spots for the brand in the past, and “Harden Soul” is no different. It’s crisp, funny, and capable of appreciating the offbeat moment of humor.

Basketball fans may also recognize sharpshooter Stephen Curry as the voice of reason, begging Harden to give up the strain on his vocal cords. But, as Harden says, “I just had the best year of my career, I gotta keep things fresh.” For those interested in things that are kept extra fresh, Foot Locker also released a full version of “Harden Soul” on Youtube (you can listen after the jump). Watch out for the lyrical genius of lines like, “I wear my shirt open/so you see my chest…I keep my stock open/so you can invest.” Almost worthy of a Grammy.

Credits after the jump.

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Aug 15

Activision, 72andSunny Tap CollegeHumor Duo for ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Trailer

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In this Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer, Jake and Amir from CollegeHumor give us a preview of the action-packed prestige edition of the game. It includes a paracord strap, a Steelbook, and an HD Tactical Camera. “Naturally, we’re going to do what you do when you have a badass tactical camera strapped to your head,” the boys say. I realize I’m definitely not a video gamer when I have no idea what the next step will be. Parkour? Surveillance?

“We’re going to breach some stuff!!” Jake and Amir proceed to burst through doors, elevator doors, garden gates, and bathroom stalls, entering unexpected scenarios as they go. The best part is when they’re the uninvited guests at a little princess’s tea party. “Hi guys!” she squeaks, and we see them taking a moment to sip out of miniature purple plastic cups. The whole thing is a fun idea, far better than watching a fictional character slaughter everything in his path while the new Eminem single “Survival” plays. If only we all had disposable screen doors and wacky neighbors worthy of tactical camera footage. As it is, mothers should prepare for the onslaught of their teenage boys trying to karate chop the front door.

Check out the credits after the jump

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Aug 15

Let’s Turn Around with Fiber One

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The title is not a bathroom pun. Saatchi & Saatchi created a new campaign for Fiber One built around the 80′s song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” originally by Bonnie Tyler. If you’ve ever been within 50 yards of a karaoke bar, you’ll recognize the tune, and apparently, the 1983 hit is getting a second wave of popularity decades later. A May survey by UKbathrooms.com reported that it is the most popular song people sing in the shower. And more recently, actor and vocal impressionist Christina Bianco had a video of her singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the voices of 19 different divas go viral (1.8 million hits in four days).

So the relevance for the Fiber One campaign is there. We have two spots to show you, one titled “Turn Around Barry,” and the other, “Turn Around Barbara.” Ignoring the missing commas, both are about hapless characters on diets who want to eat food that tastes good but won’t make them fat. Those people do deserve power ballads playing as the soundtrack to their lives. The set-up is slightly confusing, because each ad includes multiple characters who we are supposed to assume are all named either Barry or Barbara. At one point, it looks like one Barry is even holding a leek he’s about to eat whole. But then he finds Fiber One. All in 30 seconds.

Watch “Turn Around Barbara” and read some credits after the jump.

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Aug 14

Best Buy, CP+B Launch Final Back-to-School ‘Techfitter’ Spot

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Continuing their back-to-school Techfitter campaign, Best Buy and CP+B are providing Tim Kong, an aspiring games designer, with the tech he needs to design and code his next action-packed adventures. Previously, Best Buy “techfitted” a marine biology major and an aerospace engineer with a set of Windows 8 gadgets.

This new spot is comparatively less exciting, maybe because stars and oceans are grander than grungy cars and code. Consequently, I wish we had more of a storyline. Is Tim Kong really just going to make a new Grand Theft Auto, or do his interests lie somewhere specific? And in that case, can we hear what he has to say? At this point, he’s a Stock Student who knows how to make a good surprised/awesome face.

But maybe it’s better that he’s a basic video games enthusiast. Many current college kids must relate, and it’s a good thing Best Buy has a spot specifically geared towards forward-thinking, technology-centered students, hence the girl scientist, a guy scientist, and a gamer. If only the campaign lasted longer and their next subject is a fashion girl, conveniently coinciding with Fashion Week. Ah, what could’ve been.

Credits after the jump

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Aug 14

Days Inn, Entrinsic Sell Hotels Short…On Purpose

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Days Inn Canada and Toronto-based digital/social shop Entrinsic are offering potential customers a unique perspective on staying away from home: no frills, nothing fancy, not trying to go above and beyond. The sort of approach that can be down-to-earth or lazy, depending on how you think about Days Inn and the hotel industry as a whole. It’s definitely original, since every other chain tries to maximize the number of amenities offered.

In the one-minute spot, a puffed up CEO-type removes all of the frills from his hotel and shows us why swimming pools should be used for swimming. Basically, basic price = basic service. P.S., if you like to wear ascots, you should avoid this commercial and all Days Inn establishments.

Credits after the jump.

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Aug 14

Toshiba, Capital C Make College Awkward Again

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Toronto shop Capital C and Toshiba have teamed for a new online back-to-school campaign meant for silly college guys who need cool technology. Sometimes, these college guys use the technology for school, other times, for play. In “Chicken Prank,” a helpless dormer finds himself wrapped to his bed with chickens on the loose, and to get out of the rut, he waves his feet in front of a touch-controlled monitor. In “Math Notes,” handwritten notes on a tablet lead to an awkward moment of affection between roommates. And in “Black Light,” well, I’ll let you figure that one out on your own.

What’s most interesting about this trio of Toshiba spots is that they are clearly targeting only males. I’m not sure if any female-themed spots about woo girls and sorority hijinks are on the docket, but I’m curious to know why Toshiba is only looking for collegiate males to purchase products for this campaign, especially considering more girls than guys go to college. But, aside from the oversight, the creatives took care of business with some safely effective locker room humor.

Credits and the two other spots after the jump.

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Aug 13

Samsung’s Smart TV Will Delight Even the Most Senile of Family Members

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The future of TV is evidently here, and a new series of spots from 72andSunny for Samsung portray the typical American family coming to terms with the fact that they will forever be enslaved to the glowing rectangle in their living room, especially considering that it now hooks up to the Internet.

Yes, Samsung’s smart TV comes with a remote that turns the set on when you hold it up to your mouth like a microphone and say “Hi, TV.” Useless? Maybe, until you consider that crippling loneliness that most of us endure. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone sometimes, you know? Even if it is just a TV. A nice, friendly TV who you can tell your problems to and routinely greet.

Samsung is also offering an “Evolution Kit,” which you can stick on the back of your grandfather’s TV. Of course, being a total grandpa, gramps will inevitably turn the conversation into one about his hip. Silly grandpa! Always talking about his fake hip. What a total grandpa move. One more spot, which features the grandpa and the dad watching Star Trek, and credits follow after the jump.

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